How much time does Griffey have left in Major League Baseball?
Rumors were swirling Monday in Seattle and around Major League Baseball that Seattle Mariners favorite “Kid”, Ken Griffey Jr., may not have much more time left in his career. A Tacoma News Tribune story published Monday stated, “He could lose his job as the left-handed designated hitter within the week. He might lose his position on the 25-man roster nearly as soon.” Griffey is currently sitting at 630 home
The More The Merrier
As the downtime between the World Series and spring training begins, so do the signing of the free agents. The Mariners are in need of a few players and they have already made an effort to get started signing. Earlier this week the Mariners announced that they had agreed to sign veteran outfielder and baseball legend Ken G
riffey Jr. The 2009 season saw Griffey as the nearly every day DH. However, he managed to only hit .219 with nineteen homeruns.
Griffey agreed to play for one more season only if he was wanted by the team. He did not want to force his way onto the Mariners only to struggle and end his career with a fizzle. While Griffey will play a much reduced role in the 2010 season, he will likely see quite a few at bats and be a feared pinch hitter coming off the bench in clutch situations. The people of Seattle love Griffey, and I do not believe that he could, or would, sign to another team.
A second signing (and an expected one) done this off-season is of middle infielder Jack Wilson. Jack Wilson came over to Seattle in a trade with Pittsburg near the 2009 trade deadline. He brought with him his amazing glove and his love of the game. He boasted a .979 fielding percentage at Shortstop, a number that is welcome on any major league roster for a middle infielder. That number, while impressive, fails to incorporate his amazing plays on balls that other fielders would have no chance of getting. While he was sidelined for most of the final month of the season, he is sure to be a building block for this team in the years to come.
The Mariners have yet to sign free agent Russell Branyan. Branyan signed a now expired one year contract 
with the Mariners last year and was given his first chance to play First base everyday. His numbers soared and he was quickly given the nickname “Russell the muscle”. The Mariners offered Branyan another one year deal, but he is hoping for a 2-3 year contract. While he would like to play for the Mariners, he would also like to play in the same city for an extended period of time. Other Mariners who have filed for free agency include pitcher Erik Bedard, third baseman Adrian Beltre, and left fielder Endy Chavez. The Mariners (I hope) would love to let Bedard go. Beltre cost the team a ton of potential free agent money the past few years while seeing his once great numbers take serious hits. Endy Chavez brought the team an everyday left fielder, something the team has struggled to obtain since Raul Ibanez left a gaping hole in the lineup. Chavez took a serious hit from former Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt on a bloop fly ball hit into very shallow left field. Chavez brought a decent batting average (career .270) and some speed into the team’s lineup and was sorely missed for the better half of the season.
Mariner’s GM Jack Zduriencik has a lot of work to do during this off-season, and no one can forget about his young powerhouse pitcher Felix Hernandez who will be sure to be worth a pretty penny when his contract expires. The fans of the Seattle Mariners have trusted Zduriencik in his first year and hope his wisdom can bring a pennant to Seattle very soon.
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Johjima Sets Sail Back For Japan
Following a poor performance in the 2009 season, Mariner catcher Kenji Johjima has elected to leave the team (as well as nearly 16 million dollars over two years) to finish his career in Japan. Johjima finished the 2009 season with an average of .247 but only had 258 total plate appearances, just over half of his 2008 total. Before the appearance of Rob Johnson, Johjima was the Mariners every day catcher. During the season, Johnson developed a strong relationship with many of the pitchers, a task made more difficult for Johjima due to language barriers.
Kenji never seemed to quite fit in aroun
d the clubhouse. However, he is not the first Japanese player to play for the Mariners. The Mariners have also employed closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, and perennial all-star right fielder Ichiro. While the language barrier is defianatly present with Ichiro, the position of right fielder does not require compiling scouting reports, directly communicating with pitchers in-game, or developing a special relationship off the field to build chemistry on the field.
Rob Johnson was able to do all of these things, and he did them very well. The Mariners pitchers began to favor Johnson, leaving Johjima on the bench. With the catching duties spoken for, and a Seattle legend batting in the DH spot, Johjima decided his best option would be to return home to finish his career where he started.
This decision came with very little warning to the team. The Mariners traded away catching prospect Jeff Clement before the 2009 trading deadline, evidence that the team was confident that Johnson, Johjima, and late season call-up Adam Moore could handle the catching duties. Rob Johnson is undergoing three surgeries this off-season but is scheduled to be ready for the start of spring training.
The Seattle Mariners Year In Review
The Seattle Mariners team of 2009 set out on April 6th hoping to leave behind their woes of the 2008 season. The team had all the makings of a team in rebuilding mode after fi
nishing with 101 losses. Seattle had a new GM, a new manager, and many questions on where they would end up at the end of the season. If there was a single glimmer of hope on opening day, it came in the form of a man known only to the Mariners faithful as Junior. Ken Griffey Jr. was introduced to a standing ovation, the likes of which this team had not seen in many years. As the season wore on, the Mariners began to receive attention as a team that may have began the season under the radar. One month in to the 2009 season the Mariners were 14-9 and 3.5 games ahead of second place Texas in the west.
The Mariners were winning, and they were doing it with chemistry. In a sport that has a stat for every situation; chemistry remains the one variable that can not be explained. They were having fun and it was bringing about results. While the winning slowed down and eventually brought the Mariners back down to earth with an 85-77 record, the chemistry and positive attitude never stopped.
When their season finally ended on October 4th, there was not a face on the field that did not see the season as a success. They ended just as they began, with Junior hearing a series of cheers. Every player had a smile and was genuinely happy to be playing baseball in Seattle. The Seattle Mariners turned a baseball team into a baseball family. There were never any stories or quotes of negativity from the locker room.
The 2009 season saw the Mariners team make a complete u-turn from the 2008 season. Never before had a team lost 100 games in a season only to finish above .500 the next. With popular players like Mike Sweeney and Junior at the end of their short contracts it will be interesting to see what the Mariners opening day 2010 lineup looks like. Ichiro and Rob Johnson will surely be around but it is unclear who else will remain. As the potential Cy Young winner nears the end of his contract, Seattle will also need to see just how much money they can offer Felix Hernandez to keep him. Keep an eye on this team, they are on the rise and are one of the great baseball stories of 2009.